


turn the record over (i'll see you on the flipside)

by grimmauld



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: (it's jily bc they have their lives together), 13k of band talk and fluff tbh, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Arguing, Band Fic, Established Relationship, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, F/M, Fame, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, I'm Bad At Tagging, Kissing, M/M, Magazines, Marriage Proposal, Minor Angst, Texting, Weddings, alternate universe fame, dont ask what lsnao stands for bc i seriously cant remember, or queer, the marauders are in a band
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:21:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21935152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grimmauld/pseuds/grimmauld
Summary: The band Mischief Managed has been making waves in the indie music scene for some time now. Alongside solo singer-songwriter, funeralFlowers, how will their lives change over just a few days?-Sirius hated the whole paparazzi, be in the public talk, magazine column’s eye thing. He loved performing, and getting his songs out into the world, he loved the fanbase and the people he got to meet and help. He wasn’t able to stop his annoyance with the paparazzi and the gossip mags, though. They were so fucking horrible, constantly asking about his heterosexual relationships, his heterosexual life and his fucking heterosexual activities. It’s not that he had a problem with coming out, and the record label didn’t either, it was more a problem with his parents. They would write so many letters, just whining so much and honestly he didn’t want to deal with that.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Marlene McKinnon/Dorcas Meadowes, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 10
Kudos: 113





	1. the main story: lives loved

**Author's Note:**

> this has been nearly a year in the making because i am slack. comments and kudos are much loved xx
> 
> title is from "45" by the gaslight anthem.
> 
> seeing as this is posted christmas eve, i hope you're having a happy holidays x

_Who is Mischief Managed? - CTRLpop_

**By Lucinda Talkalot 11/09/19**

If you’re a fan of Indie Punk music there is a high chance that you would have heard of the new darlings of the genre, Mischief Managed. The band was rocketed into fame by their surprise debut EP ‘Maps’. The six-song record was an instant hit, featuring some hard-hitting lyrics and some catchy songs, it’s no wonder the quartet became so loved so quickly. Mischief Managed has since signed to popular indie record label ‘Spell Wand Records’, wherein they’re being managed by Frank Longbottom, who gained attention as a manager after taking over from Barty Crouch in managing band classic indie band ‘Chosen One’. 

Mischief Managed released their debut album, ‘Balcony Bar’, just last week and it rocketed up the charts, securing a spot in the top 100 in only a few days. They are currently sat at number 54 and judging by consumer reactions they’re only getting more popular. The band has obvious appeal, they’re a group of young, hot guys and when you listen to their music it feels like they’re talking directly to you. What’s not to love?

The band’s frontman, Remus Lupin, 20, grew up in Newport, Wales, where he lived during the break from boarding school, H. Dore College, the place he met the other three members of the band. H. Dore College, a renowned school for science and the arts, has churned out many popular music acts recently, most of which are from the same graduating class, including both members of MVGNOLIA, the newcomer on the Emo Indie scene, weareregulus, and Indie Pop sensation funeralFlowers, A.K.A. Lily Evans. But I digress, you are all here to learn more about the brilliant members of Mischief Managed.

The lead guitarist of this Indie Punk quartet is Sirius Black, 21. He, accompanied by Remus, also writes the lyrics to their songs. Sirius made headlines a few months ago when he was publicly renounced from his family inheritance. Whilst we’re unsure of the reasoning behind this, as both Sirius himself and the Black family have refused to comment, it caused quite a stir in the community, with the traditional, high-class families standing behind the Black family name, and the music community and millennial (and younger) working-class backing Sirius. The band has now added another stipulation to their interview agreement. Alongside their well-known refusal to answer questions relating to relationships, the band will no longer tolerate any mention of the Black family, instead, they have stated that Sirius has been a member of the Potter family since they were sixteen and asked for no further questions on the matter.

Moving onto a lighter topic, we mentioned the Potter family before. This was relevant due to the next member of the band, the one and only James Potter, 21. James is the bassist, and shockingly a songwriter too? Yes! As it turns out, James wrote one of the songs from the new album, his first foray into writing. He told CTRLpop that he was messing around with Sirius one day and they began riffing off of one another, eventually what started as a game turned into a songwriting session where Sirius wrote three of the songs that appear on the album and James wrote his first.

And finally, we have the drummer, Peter Pettigrew, 20. Peter has often gone on the record saying how much his life now feels like an ultimate dream. He and the rest of the band are constantly singing the praises of their fanbase. Alongside being the drummer, Peter also does the most when it comes to posting photos on the band’s Instagram account. (Follow them @mischiefmanagedband)

So there you have it ladies, gentlemen and variations thereupon! The four members of the hit band Mischief Managed. All we here at CTRLpop can say is that we’re so excited about what they have in store for us next.

-

_MusicPeople - Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon: Secret Relationship?_

**By Mary-Anne Wilkes 23/08/19**

Sirius Black, 21, songwriter and guitarist for popular indie-rock group 'Mischief Managed', was spotted exiting a fancy restaurant in south London last evening arm in arm with lady friend Marlene McKinnon, 20, singer and keyboardist of electro-pop duo act 'MVGNOLIA'. The two have often been the cause of speculation about whether or not they were together, but neither has released a statement as of yet. Affectionately dubbed 'Blackinnon', fans of both bands are hoping desperately for the two musicians to announce whether the rumours are true. Only time will tell for these two lovebirds. 

When asked previously both Black and McKinnon were elusive, quickly sidestepping all questions pertaining to the nature of their relationship. McKinnon is generally amiable about the questions but always redirects our attempts back to her band’s music. Black, however, often gets explosive, shutting down questions quickly and coldly. If these questions were asked during a whole band interview his adoptive brother, James Potter, steps in instantly. It seems that the whole band has a zero romance policy when it comes to interviews. 

\---

Sirius hated the whole paparazzi, be in the public talk, magazine column’s eye thing. He loved performing, and getting his songs out into the world, he loved the fanbase and the people he got to meet and help. He wasn’t able to stop his annoyance with the paparazzi and the gossip mags, though. They were so fucking horrible, constantly asking about his heterosexual relationships, his heterosexual life and his fucking heterosexual activities. It’s not that he had a problem with coming out, and the record label didn’t either, it was more a problem with his parents. They would write so many letters, just whining so much and honestly he didn’t want to deal with that. And that’s not even mentioning Regulus. He didn't get it. His parents had publicly stated he was no longer part of the family and yet he still got their strongly worded, passive-aggressive (minus the passive) letters about the ‘dishonour’ he was bringing them. It’s like his whole collective birth family was Mushu and he, being Mulan, had just slapped them off of a bamboo stalk. 

_Well, congratu-fucking-lations parents, you raised a hell-raising, punk rock, rebel son who would rather a boy in his bed than a girl on his arm_ , Sirius scoffed to himself, rolling his eyes and stubbing his cigarette out on a nearby bin. The biting wind blew a quick gust, making the hair on his arms stand up. He grumbled and pulled his jacket around himself tighter, walking down the street quicker to get to Remus' flat where they were holding a band meeting.

After five minutes of walking, he made a sharp left turn into a warm lobby, hurrying to the elevator when he realised he was late. The ride was short, Remus was only six floors up, and when the lift doors opened he was greeted by Prongs leaning against the opposite wall.

“You’re late again, Pads,” James said, grinning at him impishly. “Rem was getting impatient.” 

“Of course he fuckin’ was, the tosser can’t wait a minute passed the schedule without throwing a bloody tantrum. And you’re only here on time because you came from Lily’s,” Sirius grumbled, feeling unreasonably malicious. Or maybe it wasn’t unreasonable, it was eight in the morning on a cold winter's day and he had to skip coffee in order to make it to Moony’s place at the right time. And he didn’t even make it on time so it wasn’t worth skipping anyway.

James tried to school his face into a neutral expression but he couldn’t keep the vague amusement from shining through. He turned and walked down the hall and into Remus' apartment, expecting Sirius to follow. He did. As they walked into the warm apartment, Sirius was greeted by a stink-eye from Remus and an apologetic looking Peter holding out a steaming cup of coffee.

“Figured you might want this, mate,” He said good-naturedly. “Moony and Prongs were betting on your foul mood.”

Sirius grunted and took the coffee, taking a long sip that calmed him slowly. He looked around, catching the eye of Remus and smiled at him sheepishly. They really did have work to do and Sirius being grumpy wasn’t going to help them in any way. 

“Alright, then. We just released Balcony, and now we need to start making more music. I have a few songs written but they still need to be workshopped. Moony, you and I should focus on that today. Handing the floor over to Prongs now because clearly, you have something you want to say.” Sirius said. 

“Thanks, you knobhead. I have this idea for a bass line,” James said while fiddling with the switches on the amp his bass was plugged into. He played the bass line, it was good. Melancholic but with a melody it would be catchy. It was strong, even for just a short idea.

Peter smiled, Remus looked thoughtful. He reached into his messenger bag and rummaged through to find his trusty lyric book. 

“I think that I have some words that would sound good with that. I have a basic melody for them that would sound good. I know it’s in here somewhere.” He flicked through papers with an increasing sense of urgency as the passage he was searching for seemed to be missing. Sirius and James shared a glance, ready to placate Remus if he spiralled too far. There was a shout.

“Ah,” Remus exclaimed, “Found it!” He had his book open, from the glimpse they caught of the page, it was almost entirely covered in chicken-scratch writing, scrawled diagonally, horizontally, upside down and right way up. It looked like a representation of their main songwriter’s brain, messy and jumbled. They knew this was going to be a good song even though they couldn’t read a single word of it. He didn’t let them. He rarely let them see his handwritten lyrics before he had transcribed them neatly and in the final, polished form. It was probably an anxiety thing. 

“Well, mate, sing it to us then,” Peter said, eyeing the book readily, fingers drumming with impatience. Remus cleared his throat.

“It’s only short and I- I don’t know how good you think it’ll be but I wrote it down and I think it would work well.”

“Get on with it,” Peter laughed.

“Okay, okay, here’s verse one. **Maybe I don't act the way I used to / 'Cause I don't feel the same about you / In fact, that's a lie, I want you.** ” He crooned softly. 

He stuttered on the first line, Sirius noticed. He never stutters when he starts to sing. He cast it off as nothing but nerves and instead focussed on listening. Sirius was taken aback, he knew Moony’s voice was great but this song really amplified it.

 _'It would have been perfect,'_ he thought bitterly, ' _if it was about me and not some random girl, but he’s straight and I’m pining.'_

“Then the pre-chorus which is actually kind of long,” Remus' voice cut through Sirius' sad, gay thoughts, “ **And I raced through soundcheck / Just to meet you on your fag break / And you convinced me / To put life aside and want you.** Chorus is, **And if only for the sake of it I could chill you out / And drive us through the night to your sister's / And you can fall asleep with my jacket as a cover / And wake up just to join me to smoke. I wanted everything at once / Until you blew me out my mind / And now I don't need nothing.** ”

As much as Sirius wanted to hate the elusive girl in the lyrics, the song was beautiful, emotion really bled through the writing. The desperation Moony felt to get to her before she was finished her smoke break. It was sad and hopeful at the same time.

“Same first verse, then the chorus again and an extra **‘I wanted everything at once.’** I guess this next part that I have written would be the bridge? And it’s sung twice.” He sounded unsure of himself, almost as though he didn’t trust in his abilities of songwriting. “ **We'll be talking 'bout your background / And how it never left you much / Because you grew up in a small town / You'll appreciate it more / When you're done figuring your life out / And everything's fine.** One more of **‘I raced through soundcheck’** and two more of **‘I wanted everything at once.’** and then it’s done. It’s called _Soundcheck_ , at the minute, but that can be changed if you wanted it.” 

Remus took a deep breath and looked at them all nervously. He always expected the worst when he showed them what he was working on, even though he was the best writer out of all of them. He was even better than Sirius, and Sirius was the main songwriter for the band. Sirius caught his eye, smiling softly, encouraging him. Remus smiled back, the slight upturn of lips and a small, grateful nod of the head. 

“Does anyone else have any songs,” Remus asked, cutting through Peter and James' excited screeching. He was trying to drag their attention off of him. Sirius nodded, throwing him a lifeboat, and pulled his own songwriting notepad out of his bag. 

“As I said, I have a few, but they’re just words right now. No melody, or anything. I have got a few guitar tabs that could be good though.”

The other three looked expectant, waiting for him to begin reading. (Not singing, dear God, Sirius may be excellent at writing the lyrics and playing the guitar but he couldn’t hold a tune to save his life.)

“So I have this verse but nothing else. I don’t really know where to go from here. **Hey boy, stop pacing ‘round the room / Using other people’s faces as a mirror for you / I know your lungs need filling / Since your gums have lost their feeling / But don’t say you’re giving it up again.** ”

“Mate,” Peter started, “That’s like, really good. Like really good. You and Moony should start on workshopping that song, going through your other snippets and writing more to try and fit together a whole song. James and I can work on the music aspect.”

Moony grinned at him, walking over to the keyboard he had on the other side of the room, dragging a chair over and urging Sirius to sit down. Well, how could he say no to those eyes? He meandered over, ruffling Prongs' hair on his way. Moony looked alight when he was playing the piano. It was the one time he truly and openly looked alive. His eyes sparked, like a brand new lighter, freshly bought from the servo. He was electric, in his element. Sirius was entirely caught off guard by the soft sunlight casting rays that bounced off of Remus' face, his profile looking almost ethereal. Sirius was in love. 

“So,” He started to say, just as Remus opened his mouth to speak. They smiled at each other, Sirius blushed lightly at how soft his mouth looked. 

“You go,” Remus said.

“Uh,” Sirius stuttered in reply, “Um, yes, so. I have this other passage that I think could be used to make the first verse just a bit longer.” He paused, eyes skimming over his page to find the bit he wanted to read. “ **And do you have a card? / My irregular heartbeat is starting to compact itself / He's just a simple diabetic that prevents the empathetic / From being just and giving it up.** ”

Sirius felt the need to hold his breath as Remus thought over the line.

“I like it,” he said eventually. Sirius tried to contain his smile. He skimmed through his other notebook, the one he used for piano notation. It was considerably less worn and tattered than the lyric book, but still clearly loved. Sirius knew it was the one that had a lot of sharpie doodles on the front cover, he and James had gotten bored one day and started drawing on it. Remus rolled his eyes at them but didn’t protest so they kept going. Sirius had drawn a little comic poking fun at Peter’s inability to flirt—’ _I’m aromantic’_ was his excuse. (Sometimes he wanted a hookup, though.)—and the comic about James' over the top, sappy relationship with his girlfriend, Lily, which ended up truly being the feature of the book. It was sweet really, their relationship, but they were so obnoxious sometimes that Sirius couldn’t help but make fun. James gave him a pointed look at the comic, Sirius remembered, and glanced over at Moony. Sirius stopped drawing comics after that, sticking to messily scrawled stars and hearts.

Sirius snapped back to attention when Remus began speaking, obviously having found the correct page.

“Do you have a vague melody for it?” Remus asked. 

Sirius nodded, glancing at Remus. He felt so awkward, he hated singing in front of people because he knew he was bad at it. Instead of singing, he saved himself the embarrassment and started to hum. He knew what he wanted the words to sound like in his head, so he closed his eyes and tried to project it. When he finished humming the first verse, his eyes slowly opening, Remus turned and replicated it on the piano. It wasn’t quite the same as what Sirius had thought, so he got Remus to play it again, stopping and starting to work through it. They bounced ideas off of one another for the next two hours, going through lyrics and chords, verses, melodies, harmonies. In the end, they had a pretty solid song to present to the other two.

Peter and James had created a few different instrumental demos that could fit a wide array of songs in their style. They reconvened in the centre of Moony’s living room. Remus was holding a sheet of paper on which he had transcribed the words and chords to the new, complete song that he and Sirius had just written. He also held another sheet that was his first song, Soundcheck, written out cleanly for them all to read. His lyric book was firmly back in his messenger bag. They went over Soundcheck first, purely because it was already finished. Remus was right, it fit really well with the bass that Prongs had played before. As the two of them were jamming, just vocals and bass, Peter ran and grabbed his sticks, then he started to tap a beat out onto the table. Sirius' guitar was right next to the couch, so he picked it up and played along. They paused, Sirius filled the air with a guitar solo. It was sloppy and unrehearsed but had the potential of being amazing. They would work on it. The words held the air of something like importance. They demanded to be listened to, and they had every right to do so. The words were the focal piece, they all knew.

“When we get this one onto an album, and we will, I’m sure it’s going to be a hit. It just has that punch,” Peter said. They all agreed.

“Quieter, not gone altogether. It sounds good with all of the instruments,” Remus said.

They went over the next song. They didn’t have a name for it yet but it sounded quite disco, at least to Sirius. Sirius was particularly fond of the bridge that they had come up with. It was just Remus' voice at this moment in time, the other two hadn’t heard the full song yet, so they didn’t know what to do with drums and bass. Sirius had written most of it and he didn’t even know what to do with the guitar, all he knew was that he wanted it to be vaguely electronica. 

“You’ve heard half of the first verse, me and Sirius reworked it to fit another four lines,” Remus said before he sang through that verse. “We also wrote the chorus and the bridge but we still need another verse and potentially a few lines we can repeat as a lead-out.”

He sang through the chorus, “ **And you're the only thing that's going on in my mind / Taking over my life a second time / I don't have the capacity for fucking / You're meant to be helping me. When I said I liked it better without my money, I lied / It took a little while to recognize that I / I'm not giving it up again.** ” The other two, James and Peter, looked at each other. _Yeah_ , they were probably thinking, _this is going to be a kick-ass sophomore album_ , at least, that’s what Sirius was thinking and judging by their faces they were too. 

It was a few hours later, they had gone over the rest of that song and worked through a few more ideas, Peter was groaning, James was getting sort of droopy-eyed and he kept glancing at the time on his phone.

“Peter,” Sirius said, “have you done any stretches recently to help with pain from your binder?”

Peter looked sheepish and shook his head. Sirius jerked his chin back in a gesture to _get the fuck to it, then_. He looked around the room again, Peter was stretching, James was still glancing at his phone.

“Alright, Jamie, get out of here. Go see Lily. We’ve been working for almost six hours, I think we can call it quits for today.”

James rolled his eyes but shifted to pack his things away, “She’s been weird recently. Down, I think. I want to get her flowers. I want to propose.”

The other three stopped. Frozen in place. Then Sirius let out the loudest whoop of excitement.

“Oh my god! Do you have a ring yet? Are you going to do it today? I love you so much, I’m so excited!”

“Yes, hopefully, I love you too.”

They crowded around James and stared in awe at the ring he pulled from his bag. It was gorgeous and Lily was going to love it.

With a clap on the back from all three of them, James was sent out the door.

Remus looked almost petulant at the idea of stopping the workflow but even he could admit that they were tired and borderline brain dead from all of the energy they put in today. He shut his composition book and stood up, stretching out his long legs and extending a hand to help Sirius up.

“Come on, let’s get coffee,” He said, soft Welsh accent peeking through. Sirius blushed, he seemed to be doing a lot of that today. He grabbed Remus' hand and hauled himself upwards. He overshot the distance and ended up stumbling into the other’s chest. James snorted. Sirius glared. Then he laughed and took a step back, brushing off any embarrassment he felt, and boy did he feel a lot of it. Remus shrugged lightly and started heading to the door.

“Come on, then,” He said casually, “and Peter, you can let yourselves out whenever. Be sure to lock up, though, you all have keys so use them.”

Sirius hurried to catch up. ‘ _He was like 5’5”, okay, Remus nearly had a whole foot of extra height and it was mostly leg’_. They stepped out of the front door, and head for the lifts.

“So,” Sirius said, bordering on awkward but ending up just shy of it. They had known each other for nearly ten years after all. Their hands brushed, Sirius pulled away like he had been burned. He didn’t want Remus to be uncomfortable. This whole situation felt awkward. Fuck.

“So,” Remus replied. Silence. Was it uncomfortable?

“There’s, uh. There’s a reason I asked you to join me. Just you.” Remus said eventually, the door to the elevator finally dinging. They stepped inside, Remus hit the button for ground.

“Go on then,” Sirius said, turning to face the other man, refusing to get his hopes up. Remus was straight, after all. 

“Er, Well you see, it’s like this. I’m bisexual. I know that you and the others would be accepting but I only accepted it myself, like, two days ago. I figured I should tell someone, at least. Soundcheck is about a guy.”

Sirius was something similar to shell-shocked. Okay, not straight then. He knew that Moony being bi didn’t automatically mean he had a chance, but there was still that small little inkling of a thought. Moony liked guys. It wasn’t entirely hopeless.

“Oh. Right. Well, obviously there’s nothing wrong with that. How did you know?” Sirius said. The elevator doors opened, level four. A scary-looking business lady walked in, her hair pulled into a tight bun at the base of her scalp and her pantsuit pressed immaculately. She reminded Sirius of a lawyer version of Morticia Addams. Remus stayed quiet. The lift doors opened once again and the three of them spilt out of the elevator and into the lobby. They held back a second, letting the scary lawyer Morticia Addams walk ahead. Somehow, though they had halted, they all reached the apartment doors at the same time. The lady went left, they made a turn to the right.

“There’s this guy,” Remus said eventually. It took Sirius a few moments to realise he was answering his question from before Morticia entered the elevator. “We’re friends, you know, but I realised that what I felt for him wasn’t just close friendship. It started like that, sure, but somewhere along the line it blossomed into something crazy and now every time I see him I get butterflies. It’s not love yet. I’m not in love with him, but I know that I could be if given the chance. If he gave me a chance.”

“So what’s his name, or is that classified information?”

“Classified, I’m afraid. I’m not ready to say it aloud. Saying aloud makes it real, and right now it’s just something under the surface. Not quite tangible. A loose thread doesn’t unravel the whole jumper but it can if you pull on it.”

Sirius was only kind of sure that he understood. Kind of, but he did. Clothing metaphors, who would have thought.

“Yeah,” He said, “I have a guy like that too.”

There was a wistful—if a little sad—silence between the two of them as they stepped inside the cafe they were walking to. They head to the counter, Remus started to order. He turned to Sirius, Sirius ordered. Remus paid. (He got a hot chocolate, Sirius got a latte. It seemed fitting.)

“You don’t have to pay for me,” Sirius said, reaching for his wallet.

Remus hummed noncommittally, pushing away the 5-pound note Sirius tried to hand him. He told him not to worry about it, _if he really wanted to he could get the coffees next time_. Sirius agreed reluctantly. They found a table. The cafe was unexpectedly busy for one pm on a Wednesday. They sat and they talked about nothing important for a little while. A light rain had started, falling to the pavement below with a rhythmic tap, tap, tap. Maybe they could use that in a song. The low hum of chatter in the background seemed to clear out Sirius' mind, leaving it empty enough to pour focus onto what mattered. Moony. It was a serene feeling, sitting in a cafe at one in the afternoon with someone you loved, letting the rain and the background noise distract from the tumultuous noise that was your brain. It was love, what he felt for Moony that is. He knew it was love, the quiet kind that had been there so long it stopped fighting to be seen and heard, but just lay alongside the other thoughts. An underlying current of warmth.

“Do you love this guy, then?” Sirius asked, “the one Soundcheck was written about.”

Remus choked on his drink, both the breaking of the silence and the subject matter taking him by surprise.

“I suppose so,” He said looking down into his drink, mulling over thoughts of him. “It’s all a bit funny. I’ve known him too long to want to say anything but a mate of both of ours says I should go for it. ‘What’s the worst that could happen’ he said, like he doesn’t know what rejection is.” 

“Well, why don’t you? Rejection aside,” Sirius said. Remus studied him, eyes flickering between his face and the rest of the building, searching out eye contact but avoiding it wholeheartedly. His eyes rested finally on the black ink, creeping up Sirius’ arm in swirls.

“Fear. Obviously, it’s fear. Come on, Pads, you know this. What I know is that his reaction will be pleasant if not the one I’m hoping for, but I’m still terrified. It won’t be what I’m hoping for. I know he’s interested in someone and the chances of that being me are slim to none. I know his usual type. He always goes for the dickheads that use him for a few months before leaving him broken.”

Okay. That sounded a lot like a few of Sirius' exes. But there’s no way that they’re talking about each other, right?

“Hm,” Sirius said.

“What about yours?” Remus asked.

“Well,” Sirius said, “I don’t think he likes himself very much. He’s gentle and kind. Smart, funny, creative, opinionated. Sarcastic but sincere. I know I love him, but it’s been so long that it’s almost domestic even know we’ve never been together like that. He likes to read, he likes music and films and sweet things. He’s a good friend. It’s funny, he was the one that made me realise I was gay.”

Remus started at this, “You- You came out at sixteen. You’ve loved him for five years. What about all those other boyfriends?”

“Okay, I didn’t love him back then. I had the capacity to, and I knew I would one day, but at the time I just thought he was fit. The boyfriends were genuine, I liked them. I just didn’t love them, not the way I love him.”

“Is it James?”

Sirius couldn’t contain the laugh he let out at that.

“Is it James? Fucking James?” He sputtered incredulously, “I’d rather die than be in love with that tosspot, he’s practically my brother. He _is_ my brother!”

Remus held his hands up in that pose that people do when they’re thinking _‘sorry, sorry jeez no need to be defensive.’_

“Alright, alright,” He said smiling joyously, “I was just asking.”

Sirius still couldn’t quite get over it. James. His long-standing crush (he hated that word) asked him if he was in love with his stand-in, better-than-actual brother. 

It had been over an hour since they left the apartment, creeping up on two, actually. Sirius stood up. Remus stood too. He thanked him for the coffee, Remus held out his hand in the international signal for you go first. They walked out the door, they hugged. Remus went right, Sirius walked left.

On Thursday nothing spectacular happened. The band was having a day off, Prongs hadn’t come home from Lily’s last night, so Sirius had the flat to himself. He had texted James a little the previous day.

-

**radfoot + urwrongs**

**_(14:21) radfoot:_** moony is a fucking idiot

 ** _(14:21) radfoot:_** i’ve decided i can’t be in love with him anymore

 ** _(14:25) urwrongs:_** what did he do this time

 ** _(14:26) radfoot:_** he asked me if i was in love with you

 ** _(14:26) radfoot:_** you

 ** _(14:26) radfoot:_** it was horrible like i know ur pan but i have standards

 ** _(14:28) urwrongs:_** alright fuck off mate

 ** _(14:32) radfoot:_** love u too say hi to lils for me <3333

\---

**hip and cool dads**

**_(19:42) doemygosh:_** just wrote a killer song y’all aren’t even ready

 ** _(19:43) doemygosh:_** jamie helped too!!! <3

 ** _(19:45) swoony:_** lils u should open for us if we go on tour

 ** _(19:45) marlywhirls:_** *cough* double opening acts *cough*

 ** _(19:46) urwrongs:_** yeah marlene we get it we will x

 ** _(19:57) geekus:_** it’s purely business, babes

\---

Thursday, he just lay in bed and caught up on some Netflix shows, writing a little in between and overall trying to avoid thinking too hard.

**let’s get this fucking bread (the band)**

**_(10:53) radfoot:_** <attached IMG_00982>

 ** _(10:54) radfoot:_** here i wrote a lil somethin something.

 ** _(11:01) swoony:_** could be a good v2 for the other song we worked on yesterday

 ** _(11:04) wormfail:_** wait ur handwriting is so shit pads whats the third line down?

 ** _(11:12) radfoot:_** ugh! i’ll just write it out text style

**_(11:15) radfoot:_ ** **this conversation's not about reciprocation no more / but I'm gon' wait until you finish so I can talk some more / about me and my things, my car, my living / and how I'm giving it up, giving it up again**

**_(11:20) wormfail:_** oh sick cool i like it yes mmhmm

 ** _(11:21) urwrongs:_** stfu wormy. it’s good siri

\---

The next day, Friday, Sirius once again had to be up and out of the house by 7:30. Mornings fucking sucked. Somehow, even though it was the arsecrack of the morning, a camera flashed in Sirius' peripheral vision. Great. Sirius looked so unkempt today, wearing yesterday’s jeans, James' t-shirt and his hair in a bun held together by a single, stretched out elastic that was hanging on by a single thread and Sirius' sheer determination. He looked and felt like shit and that picture was going to be all over the internet in the coming hours. This day was going even worse than Wednesday. It was only a quarter to eight. Sirius got an iced coffee even though he was still a twenty-minute walk away from Rem’s apartment and he had 15 minutes to get there. Wasn’t it a scientifically proven fact that caffeinated gays walked faster, anyway? Really, he was doing the other guys a favour, he was cutting down his walk to only thirteen minutes. 

He reached Moony’s apartment building, twelve minutes. Inside was warm, a sharp juxtaposition from where he had entered from. He rode the elevator up, unlike Wednesday it wasn’t James waiting for him. Moony was leaning against the wall, very similarly to how Prongs was two days previously.

“Hi,” he smiled. Sirius gave him a nod and they headed inside together. It wasn’t long before the band meeting devolved into an argument, their Wednesday had been so productive it was only fair. Sirius and Remus had gotten into a dispute about one of their new songs, Founded. Sirius wanted it to be the last song on the new album, Remus only wanted it as a bonus track if anything. According to him, the lyrics were weak and it was just overall a bad song. Sirius disagreed. (So did James and Peter.)

“I wrote it, surely I get to have the final say in where it goes,” Remus said, sounding not unlike a petulant toddler trying to avoid being put down for a nap.

Sirius looked at him in disbelief, “Remus, I may be in love with you, but you’re being a fucking idiot.” It took him a moment to realise what he had said, but when he did, he clapped a hand over his mouth, eyes widening in shock, terror and discomfort.

The room fell quiet, aside from the quiet noise of James gasping softly before moving forward to put a comforting hand on Sirius. He was shrugged off. Remus stared at Sirius, mouth falling open. It was silent. Painfully, sickeningly silent. Both Remus and Sirius were locked in place, staring. A stalemate, a standoff. Both of them waiting for the other. Sirius still had his hand over his mouth. Peter and James locked eyes and collectively decided that it was time for them to take their leave. Together they edged toward the door, moving slowly as not to startle the other two. The door clicked shut, Remus finally moved.

He took a single, solitary step forward.

“Did you mean it?”

Four words. It was time for Sirius to decide whether to take the easy route out and save his friendship or be true to his feelings, get them out there and then begin to heal. He didn’t have much time, Moony expected him to speak and if he didn’t his silence would be an answer too. He was afraid.

He looked up, lowering his hand from his lips and catching Moony’s eye. Slate grey meets caramel. One word, one syllable. It was less than what Remus had to say. He could do this. He just had to think about the future. He opened his mouth, fully prepared to deny everything.

“Yes.”

Wait, what? That’s not what he was going to say. He wasn’t supposed to be honest. He wasn’t sure what to do. Honesty got him nowhere. Honesty got him nothing but beatings. Belt cracks across his back. Honesty got him slapped. Honesty. Honesty honesty honesty honesty honesty. Spirals. He was spiralling. He sunk to the ground. Honesty. _How dare you, insolent boy._ Honesty. His hands found his hair. Gripping, tugging. Honesty. _After all we’ve done for you?_ Honesty. His head filled with white noise. Honesty. It was just honesty, over and over again. The lashings from the belt didn’t hurt as much as the disappointment. _You are the scourge of the family. Why were you even born?_ His vision blacked around the edges.

There was a noise. It sounded like it was above water while he was sinking deeper and deeper. Something was trying to reach him. Someone?

“Padfoot.”

It was faint, but it was there. His mother wasn’t. The voice was cutting through his thoughts.

“Pads.”

It was stronger now, loud. Sirius thinks he nodded, just a little. _I can hear you._

“I’m going to put your hand on my diaphragm. Is that okay?” Another nod.

He felt his hand being moved, though his arm had that vague sense of numbness. It was settled onto a solid, warm presence.

“Breathe in time to the hand moving, okay? I’ll count for you, too.” Okay. Okay.

“In, two, three, four. Hold, two, three, four, five, six. Out, two, three, four.” In, hold, out. In, hold, out. In, hold, out.

Slowly he regained his vision, his awareness.

“You’re safe, Sirius. It’s just me. Just Moony.”

Moony. It’s only Moony, nothing to be afraid of there. He folds his socks and eats chocolate until he gets too sick to move. He sings, he writes. He’s funny, kind and smart. He’s everything his parents are not. He’s solid and he’s safe. Sirius is safe.

“You okay now?” Moony asks, hovering his arms before the go-ahead to hug was given. They sat there, on the floor of Moony’s living room for who knows how long, hugging and only crying a little bit. There wasn’t a lot of talking. There needed to be.

“So,” Moony started, “Before you panicked I was going to tell you I’m in love with you too. Wrote soundcheck all about you. The time before Mischief. When I was in that other band and you were working at the Cafe From Hell.”

Well then.

“Guess everything's coming up roses,” Sirius joked, still weak but regaining his personability. They smiled at each other. “Fuck that cafe.”

“Yeah, fuck that cafe. And, if it’s okay, I'd like to take you on a date,” Remus said.

“That’s more than okay.”

Sirius knew that he should probably speak to a professional about what just happened. It had happened before, this wasn’t the first and chances were that it wouldn’t be the last, but this time around was certainly the worst it had ever happened. Remus handled it well, that raised a few questions. Maybe Sirius had just grown paranoid.

He was happy, don’t think otherwise. His life was turning out quite pleasantly, and he had a date to look forward to, as well. 

-

**let’s get this fucking bread (the band)**

**_(12:09) radfoot:_** got a date with him

 ** _(12:13) urwrongs:_** LET’S FUCKING GOOOOOOOO

 ** _(12:14) urwrongs:_** I KNEW IT WOULD TURN OUT PERFECT

 ** _(12:15) wormfail:_** sjfdhgfjhks !!!!!!!!!! <3

 ** _(12:16) urwrongs:_** I’M FUCKING HOLLERING

 ** _(12:16) urwrongs:_** ILY GUYS SO MUCH!!!!

 ** _(12:17) wormfail:_** i stg Jamie is abt to cry guys omg

 ** _(12:19) swoony:_** <3

 ** _(12:19) radfoot:_** <3

 ** _(12:21 wormfail:_** gay

\---

 ** _rem_** **@notromulus** 1, _876,349 followers_

_i sing sometimes_

_rem **@notromulus**_

working on something. you may be excited to hear about it.

_11:01 AM - 1,732,642 likes - 1,015,226 retweets_

**_sirius “punksnotdead” black_** **@siriusly** 1, _942,091 followers_

_cooler than 1000 suns and still hotter than u_

_sirius “punksnotdead” black_ **_@siriusly_**

get mf keen. LSNAO is happening soon.

_11:13 AM - 1,907,212 likes - 1,335,678 retweets_

**_James Potter_** **@prongspotter** 1, _731,185 followers_

_I’m in a band that you may like~ @mischeifmanagedband_

_James Potter_ **_@prongspotter_**

LSNAO: a new era

_11:19 AM - 1,029,897 likes - 995,048 retweets_

**_Peter!_** **@peterpettigrew** 1,6 _76,498 followers_

_LSNAO LSNAO LSNAO LSNAO_

_Peter!_ **_@peterpettigrew_**

Good to be back behind my baby (drums) for something sweet (LSNAO).

_11:25 AM - 1,002,912 likes - 933,782 retweets_

\---

Four days later. Sirius and Remus had gone on that date and it went perfectly. They had decided on an album name, the fans were excited. They were excited too, they had so many ideas for their new album. Even though Balcony Bar had come out so recently their world was still changing, moulding, shaping to ideas they didn’t even dream of before. It was kind of perfect.

Sirius walked up behind Moony, wrapping his arms around his waist and resting his chin on the taller’s shoulder.

“Hi,” Moony said, words appearing through a smile. “What’re you doing?”

“Loving you, always. Obviously, Moonshine, keep up.”

Moony laughed, head thrown back and eyes crinkling like mad. He turned in Sirius' arms. They studied each other. Remus was so beautiful. Sirius couldn’t quite believe he had managed to get him. His face, covered in freckles and love, was so close that Sirius couldn’t resist planting a soft kiss on his mouth. Wormtail threw a cushion at them. They laughed again. There seemed to be a lot of laughter in their lives now, all four of them. It was interesting. Sirius had started life in shades of grey, afraid of stepping in the wrong way. Afraid of everything. Now he was excited for another day on Earth. He was happy in a way that he had never been before. He knew that he didn’t need a boyfriend to be happy, he didn’t place his happiness into others. Having one helped, though, because now he had someone to help him be happy on his down days. He didn’t realise before that the days where he could barely function, not getting out of bed, wasn’t healthy. It was just his reality. He’s getting better now.

His music helps. Moony does too, so do his chosen mum and dad, Euphemia and Fleamont. So does his chosen brother, the arrogant twat that he loves so much, James, and his favourite girl, Lily. So do Peter, Marlene and Dorcas. So do Alice, Frank, Mary and all of the others. Friends, he thinks. Friends help. 

Sirius kisses Remus again, unable to contain a smile. In the end, it’s not so much a kiss as it is the press of two grins against each other. 

\---

_Sirius “punksnotdead” Black **@siriusly**_

dear everyone, i’d like you all to know that i’m absolutely gayer than rainbow fireworks on the fourth of july. i’m okay with that. i just like guys, that’s not so different to anyone else. x 

_02:58 AM - 5,992,987 likes - 8,938,112 retweets_

_-_

_r_ _♛_ _**@weareregulus**_

<3

_03:21 AM - 22,112 likes - 9,282 retweets_

**_Replying to:_ ** _Sirius “punksnotdead” Black **@siriusly**_

dear everyone, i’d like you all to know that i’m absolutely gayer than rainbow fireworks on the fourth of july. i’m okay with that. i just like guys, that’s not so different to anyone else. x 

_02:58 AM - 5,992,987 likes - 8,938,112 retweets_

\---

_Sirius Black just came out as gay and we’re so proud of him!_

**By Lucinda Talkalot 25/09/19**

There is probably no way that, at this point, you don’t know who Mischief Managed are. If you are the one percent living under a rock, Mischief Managed is an Indie band primarily from South London. (Remus, the lead singer, is from Wales.) The band has become popular in recent years following the release of their EP ‘Maps’ and their subsequent debut album ‘Balcony Bar’. The band also recently teased a new album on Twitter, something referred to mysteriously as the acronym LSNAO. What this could mean was the topic of hot debate just yesterday. Something new has cropped up, however.

Sirius Black, the lead guitarist and one of the main songwriters for the band took to Twitter in the early hours of this morning to say something. With an excellent comparison, Black decided that today was the day to come out as gay. He said “dear everyone, i’d like you all to know that i’m absolutely gayer than rainbow fireworks on the fourth of july. i’m okay with that. i just like guys, that’s not so different to anyone else. x” Well, if that’s not straight, or should I say ‘gay’, to the point, then I don’t know what is.

Black isn’t the only one in recent times to come out as LGBTQ+ in the indie scene. Both members of MVGNOLIA issued public statements last month that not only were both of them LGBT (lead singer Marlene McKinnon is bisexual, and drummer Dorcas Meadowes is a lesbian) but they were dating each other, too. We here at CTRLpop, are so excited that we live in a time where people can come forward proudly and be who they are. The world has a long way to go for LGBTQ+ people, but every person who is in a safe position to be brave and true to themselves means a tiny step forward for all of us. Congratulations Sirius, for living your truth.

-

_Sirius Black dating James Potter?_

**By Flora Sampson 25/09/19**

Sirius Black, the lead guitarist of Mischief Managed, is notoriously caged off about his love life. Just this morning, however, Black logged onto Twitter.com and publicly came out as a homosexual. This leads us to many questions. Why now? Is he dating someone? Well, we do believe that we have the answer to that second question.

It is no secret that James Potter and Sirius Black are close, they’ve gone on record to say that they feel like they’re brothers. Are the two perhaps closer than that? Sources close to them have told us here at CelebWatch that the two are often affectionate with one another that borders on a private, romantic moment they are often uncomfortable witnessing. Fans have been speculating this relationship for years, one on Twitter.com even claiming that they were the first ‘Jamesirius’ shipper, and had ‘called’ their relationship since the first week that their first EP, Maps, was released.

Although Potter has indeed ‘confirmed’ his relationship with new-comer to the scene Lily Evans of funeralFlowers, both on Twitter.com and in Evans’ YouTube.com video from yesterday afternoon, though whether this is Potter attempting to help a friend with gaining fame, or a ‘beard relationship’ situation is unclear. 

Other members of the band haven’t commented on the statement Black released this morning.

\---

Sirius scoffed at the last article, putting his phone down on the nightstand and turning over to snuggle deeper into Moony’s arms. He placed a kiss in the centre of the other’s bare chest. He slipped back into unconsciousness. Life for them was soft.

\---

_MusicianInvolved Exclusive! Lily Evans debut album: 'Dare'_

**_By Emmeline Vance 23/09/19_ **

Lily Evans, 19, (stage name funeralFlowers) is less than a week from the set debut date for her first album 'Dare', her fans waiting with bated breath for the highly anticipated album. The album features 12 tracks including viral hit _Potion,_ which blew up after the music video was posted to her YouTube channel. The video was directed by local indie producer-director Alice Fortescue, who is also the producer on the majority of the music videos released by indie band Mischief Managed and pop duo MVGNOLIA. Along with _Potion_ , the album has songs such as _Wings Of The Wicked_ and _Honey Bee_.

Lily rose to fame three years ago through her previously mentioned YouTube channel, also called funeralFlowers. She began by posting covers and general 'vlog' content, including an advice panel (called witchy words) which is still ongoing to this day. After gaining thirty thousand fans slowly, she really took off with her release of an acoustic cover of MVGNOLIA song _IT'S NOT YOU IT'S ME_ from their EP 'better now than never', featuring the duo act in her video. It turned out the three had gone to boarding school together and remained friends. Since the release of that video, Lily has gained over one million additional subscribers and announced her debut album a little over a month ago.

We managed to contact Lily for an exclusive interview about her new album, which can be found on the MusicianInvolved YouTube channel, the following is an excerpt of the transcript.

**_EV:_ ** _Hi there, Lily. How have you been?_

**_LE:_ ** _Hey Emmeline! I've been awesome! It's been too long since we went to school together, haha! How are you?_

**_EV:_ ** _You're completely right, Lily. Now, we have you here today at MusicianInvolved to chat about your new album 'Dare'. How has that been going, how do you feel about it?_

**_LE:_ ** _Oh man, it's been absolutely unreal, my producer, Alice, has been so, so awesome throughout the process. Alice and my manager, Mary Macdonald, have really been pushing me to make my music exactly how I want it, instead of what I had slipped into before, which was subconsciously catering to my audience. I really owe them everything for this album._

**_EV:_ ** _Wow, it sounds like you struggled a lot, at least that’s what I got from the album?_

**_LE:_ ** _Yeah, definitely. This album is my own personal love song to loneliness, I suppose. When I wrote a lot of the songs I was in a really bad place, mentally, and I really didn't have the support I needed to survive, but I managed and I made this album which I really think people are going to love._

_[…]_

**_EV:_ ** _Would you say experiences from your childhood and boarding school have played a part in the writing of this album?_

**_LE:_ ** _For sure. Being sent to boarding school as a tiny eleven-year-old was absolutely terrifying and I loved and hated my parents for it simultaneously. It was definitely worth it though, I met so many amazing people that I still absolutely adore, and being one hundred percent honest, one of the songs on 'Dare' was written during the infamous Incident at H. Dore College, so watch out for I Won't Cry For You! Another one was written with my boyfriend in mind, so the sweetest, happiest song on the album, For You, is for him, haha._

**_EV:_** _I, for one, am very excited about the release of these two new songs!_

_[…]_

**_EV:_ ** _Well, I wish you all the best for the release of 'Dare'!_

_\---_

**_L I L Y * E V A N S_** **@funeralFlowers** _986,442 followers_

_raise boys and girls the same way_

_L I L Y * E V A N S_ **@funeralFlowers**

!!! three days until Dare !!!

_10:54 AM - 1,021,234 likes - 933,556 retweets_

_L I L Y * E V A N S_ **@funeralFlowers**

sometimes the people from the past still haunt us ♪

_02:47 AM - 1,041,223 likes - 963,282 retweets_

_L I L Y * E V A N S_ **@funeralFlowers**

friend date w/ my boyo **@notromulus** gon get me some smashed avo <3

_11:21 AM - 702,212 likes - 735,226 retweets_

\---

**_about the blogger:_ **

_name: lily!_

_age: 19_

_pronouns: she/her_

_location: the uk_

Hiya! I'm Lily Evans, you may know me as the singer funeralFlowers. On this tumblr I just like to speak my mind, reblog cute dogs and interact with my followers. Thank you so much for stopping by <3

\---

There was a knock at the door. Lily got up from the couch, stretched up high to soothe her muscles and went to see who it was. James was standing out the front, holding a bouquet of flowers. Calla lilies, orange blossom, gardenias and hydrangeas with a spattering of lavender, violets and myrtle. Every bouquet she’d ever gotten from her friends held a lily flower in some regard.

“What’s all this, then?” She asked.

“I dunno,” He replied, “You seemed kind of off, the last few days. I wanted to get you something to remind you that I love you.”

She smiled at him, reaching up to smooth out a wrinkle in his top (a _Catfish and the Bottlemen_ tour tee). He was so sweet to her, she really didn’t deserve him. She took the flowers from him, turning to head back into her apartment. She left the door open for him to follow her. The latch caught in a soft click as he shut it while she was looking for a vase. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, his darker skin tone contrasting with her easily-burned, paper-pale Scottish complexion. She rolled her eyes fondly.

“So, you like them?” He asked.

“I love them. I love you.” She replied, spinning around in his grasp, the flowers placed on the counter behind her. 

He tightened his grip and swiftly lifted her, placing her onto the countertop in front of him, stepping between her legs.

“I’m glad,” he whispered before kissing her softly. “I love you too.”

Lily loved moments like this with James, when she could forget about the outside world and all the expectations on both of them. She was just allowed to be a teenager, not worrying about how people would react to them. They were able to be in love and she didn’t have to be afraid.

He pulled away.

“They have meaning.”

“The flowers?”

“Yeah. I went to Hestia’s shop, she told me the meanings while she made it. The calla lilies mean magnificent beauty-”

Lily blushed a violent red, clashing with her hair in a way that was somehow beautiful. James paused and grinned at her blindingly, lovingly. 

“Orange blossoms are a symbol of eternal love, gardenias mean ‘you’re lovely’ but can also be a symbol of hope, the hydrangea, in this context, is a symbol of heartfelt and honest emotions, the lavender means devotion, and because the violets are purple they mean that my thoughts are occupied with love. I know it’s kind of dumb to just kapow you with super heavy ‘I love you’ flowers but I just thought it’d be nice?” He ended on a question when the words themselves didn’t really require one.

She pressed another kiss to his mouth. And another, and another. He kissed her back with every one, ever soft, ever gentle.

“Now,” he murmured against her red-painted lips, “do you want to tell me why you’ve been withdrawn?”

She knew it was coming. Communication is key in any relationship, but that didn’t mean it was easy.

“Okay.” Deep breath. “James, I love you. You know this. It’s really not you that’s making me withdrawn. Well, kind of. I’m just so afraid that if the public finds out that we’re together, they’ll think that I’m using you for fame. They’ll think that I’m not actually getting ahead by my talents or my music, but because you and I are a couple. I don’t want anyone, the fans and especially not you, to think that I’m exploiting us. Our relationship. I want to be able to be seen with you in public, but I feel like if we were seen as a couple, the industry, the fans, the tabloids, what if they all think that it’s me just seeking fame and fortune rather than actually just loving you.”

“Lils. I don’t give a flying fuck about what the tabloids, or the fans or even the fucking industry think. I know you love me, you know I love you. That’s really all that matters, isn’t it? As long as we’re together we can kick some ass. You and me, Moony and Padfoot when they finally get their shit together, Marls and Dorcas, Peter on his own on account of him being, you know, aromantic. We’ll do it together. Out of all of the school group, we have it the easiest. We’re both cis and, though neither of us are straight, we’re in a straight-passing relationship. That doesn’t mean our hardships are lesser, but we won’t get as much shit as the others. We’ll fight for our relationship, I know we can make it. And, plus side, we can fight everyone that attacks Marls and Dorcas, and Sirius and Remus, again if they ever get their shit together.”

Lily smiled a watery grin that wasn’t quite sure of itself. “We’ll fight everyone if we have to.”

She kissed him, then, tenderly and soft. Mouths moving in a poem, pressed together and perfect. 

“I’m glad I met you, James Potter.”

“There’s another flower I didn’t mention.”

“Hm?” She mumbled, eyes still closed and head just a little bit far away. He pulled away, her eyes slipped open to see him kneeling in front of her, a small, black velvet box in hand.

“One more flower in the bouquet. Myrtle. It’s the emblem of marriage. I’m asking you, Lily Evans, if you would like to marry me?”

Her hands flew to her face as tears sprang to her eyes, freely slipping over to run rivers down her cheeks.

“Yes,” she said, emphatic and emotional.

James slipped the ring onto her outstretched finger. It was simple, a rose gold band—really sticking to the flower theme—with a round, rose cut clear diamond, and two diamonds set to the band flanking it. It was beautiful. Perfect. He was perfect.

\---

**let’s get this fucking bread (the band)**

**_(13:39) urwrongs:_** she said yes

 ** _(13:40) urwrongs:_** <attached IMG_00112>

 ** _(13:40) radfoot:_** OH MY FUCKING GOD

 ** _(13:40) radfoot:_** I LOVE U BOTH SM

 ** _(13:40) radfoot:_** I CALL BEING BEST MAN

 ** _(13:41) swoony:_** congrat

 ** _(13:41) swoony:_** i mean I’M SO HAPPY FOR U BOTH UWU!!!

 ** _(13:41) urwrongs:_** remus, man, no. but also ily

 ** _(13:41) urwrongs:_** also obviously ur best man siri

 ** _(13:42) wormfail:_** i knew she would! congrats u guys! x

-

**lily evans and the hot girls**

**_(13:40) doemygosh:_** <attached IMG_00112>

 ** _(13:41) geekus:_** is that the one you want when jamie proposes or?

 ** _(13:41) marlywhirls:_** no. fucking. way.

 ** _(13:42) doemygosh:_** i said yes

 ** _(13:42) geekus:_** oh my god I LOVE U BOTH <33 CONGRATS <33

 ** _(13:42) marlywhirls:_** rt rt rt rt ilysm congratulations my babes!!

-

**hip and cool dads**

**_(18:31) radfoot:_** i still can’t believe my favourite straight couple is gonna get married

 ** _(18:34) urwrongs:_** i still can’t believe it either

\---

Lily took a small break from social media—two days, not very long at all—to process, to tell her family. To start planning. The wedding wouldn’t be for a while, obviously, they hadn’t even confirmed their relationship online yet. It would be in Autumn, though. Sometime around October. She wanted it outside, in a wooded area, somewhere natural with the reds, yellows and oranges of the leaves swirling around them. 

\---

Generally, Lily took to Twitter to announce things. It was easy, concise. No hassle. This seemed a little bit more important, though, she needed a bit _more._ Especially with the recent developments. So she sat down, for what felt like the first time in months (and was, she hadn’t posted in around three), and she filmed a YouTube video.

Admittedly, she had been neglecting her channel in favour of the album, but she still tried to keep up with it where she could. Her last post was a little under three months ago and was a Witchy Words chatty vid. 

She decided to film this new video like a _Get Ready With Me_ vlog. She sat in front of her camera, makeup bag on the vanity and a mirror off to the side, only just in shot. James sat on the bed behind her, clearly visible, scrolling through his phone. She pressed the record button, greeted her audience as she always did with a _Hello Witches!_ and started talking.

“It’s been a hot second, huh? I figured I would do something a bit different,” she paused and applied a moisturizer over her face. Primer. She pumped a little foundation onto the back of her hand. “You may be able to see that guy in the background, he looks like a bit of a wanker, doesn’t he?”

“Oi!” James called, not looking up from where he was scrolling through his Twitter.

She giggled lightly, “Anyway. I have quite a few things on the agenda today. There’s album talk, I’ve had some questions about relationships that I figured I should answer and… Yeah! Let’s get on with it, then.”

Her base was done by now, so she set it with some powder and moved on to bronzer.

“First things first, Dare is out in two days. I’m really excited for you to hear it, I’ve really poured a lot of myself into it. There’s one track on the album which is a collaboration song, with Marlene and Dorcas from MVGNOLIA, you all know them. So, while only one of Dare is a collab song, I do have a super secret and special project I think I’m allowed to tell you a bit about?”

She paused and turned to look at James, he nodded and stood up, stretched and walked closer to the frame of Lily’s video. 

“Hi,” he said, grinning like the sun at the camera. Lily rolled her eyes.

“If you couldn’t tell by this idiot, I’m going to be working with the band Mischief Managed to release a single! It’ll be out in a few weeks, alongside what I bet will be a pretty sweet music video.”

James stayed standing behind her for a little bit longer, pulling faces at himself in the mirror and trying to make Lily laugh. She steadfastly ignored him, focusing on blending her eyeshadows ( _summer yum_ and _charmed, i’m sure_. Dumb names, but pretty colours). The video had no speaking for a few moments, they worked harmoniously. Worked, as a loose term. Pulled faces, and blended eyeshadow.

“Jamie, I’m gonna need you to move so I can do my eyeliner.”

He pouted a Sirius-level dramatic pout and flopped back onto Lily’s bed. She shook her head, trying to fight a smile.

“Next up, relationships! I’ve always found relationships scary and I especially found talking about them difficult. A lot of you have asked on my Instagram—@doelily, shameless plug—a lot of you have asked about my relationship status. That’s a difficult question. It’s probably well known that I have a partner, I told Emmeline in an interview that a song from Dare was about my b- partner,” she was careful about only saying ‘partner’, not wanting to undermine her new relationship status just for the purpose of the video.

“And it is true, in past videos it’s clear I’m looking at someone off-screen. I do have a partner, and you do know him. It’s difficult to talk about because, first of all, I’m not straight, but because I’m in a straight-passing relationship I have privileges that other LGBT plus folks don’t have.” 

She paused, took a deep breath and continued.

“The person that I’m with has been kept a secret for my entire career online. That’s on me, not him. We don’t have to hide as much as our fellow LGBT friends do, but we still had some apprehension about sharing. I value my privacy, my partner values his. As a bisexual woman, I’ve had to deal with a lot of uncomfortable situations that have made me treasure the comfort of secrecy in relationships. My partner and I are both in the public eye, every public relationship goes through some strain because of it. I don’t for a second want anyone to think that I’m using my relationship as a marketing ploy. I’m not. We’ve been together for nearly four years now and I love him with all of my heart. Please, be respectful of my relationship and of every relationship that you know. Unless there is some abuse or malpractice, other people’s relationships are none of your business. If the relationship is between two consenting adults, please stay out of it.”

She had avoided looking into the camera for the entire time she was speaking, but she looked up now. Taking a few moments to look earnestly into the camera, she looked back down and smiled to herself. 

“I guess you all want to know the name of my partner, then? Well, I’m sure you won’t be surprised given that he’s been in the background this entire time. Jamie, get back here!”

James meandered back up, pressed a kiss to her cheek and smiled just as bright as he had the first time. He sat next to her and fished his phone from his pocket, content to sit quietly while she finished filming her video. 

“The thing is, dear YouTube, is that my James and I aren’t necessarily boyfriend-girlfriend. Or- _dating_ isn’t quite the right word, either. You see, two days ago I wouldn’t be saying this, but two days ago James got down on one knee.”

She trailed off, not knowing whether to say more or not. In the end, she settled for a pointed look at the camera. James had looked up and was, as he seemed to be doing tirelessly today, smiling at her like she hung the sun for him. She held her hand up to the camera, allowing it to focus on the sparkly new ring on her left hand. She hadn’t taken it off for the video, figuring she was going to say that they were engaged at some point. She still got a giddy rush of ‘ _this is really happening’_ every time she saw it. She smiled back at James. If she hung the sun then he hung all of the remaining stars in the sky. 

\---

_Lily Evans and James Potter - Confirmed Relationship!_

**_By Lucinda Talkalot 24/09/19_ **

Lily Evans, 19, perhaps better known by her stage name ‘funeralFlowers’ is a singer-songwriter and YouTuber from Glasgow, Scotland. Yesterday evening, she announced on Twitter that her first video in three months would be released today. The announcement came after a two day break from social media, where she previously posted daily. The video went live not half an hour ago.

In the video, Lily spoke about a variety of subjects, including information on her album, set to release in three days, and her relationship status. Well, let me tell you, readers, the announcement to do with the latter was certainly a shock. After a discussion about future projects and her current project, ‘Dare’, Lily (and James) announced that the two would be collaborating, alongside the rest of Mischief Managed, to release a new single. It’s no secret that the band and Lily are close, the lead singer, Remus Lupin, is often featured on Lily’s Twitter and Lily on his. It’s clear they’re best friends, but of the members of Mischief Managed, it’s made apparent that Remus isn’t the one she is closest with.

‘It’s probably well known that I have a partner’ she states before going into detail about the challenges she has faced by being a bisexual woman in a straight relationship, the exclusion and the second guessing. Then, she turns to the person in the background—James Potter, bassist for the band Mischief Managed—and asks him to join her in focus of the camera. Yes, readers, Lily Evans and James Potter are together and have been for 4 years now. In fact, the most exciting part of the whole video, James had proposed to her just two days prior. James and Lily haven’t stated when the wedding will be, just that it’s likely to be in a fall month.

We reached out to Lily and James, but neither of them was available for comment, expressing their deepest apologies but still declining our interview. We hold no hard feelings, don’t you worry.

\---

 _Dare_ was out today. Midnight, her time. Lily wasn’t sure how to react, she’d been keeping it for herself for so long that having it out for the masses was a different kind of overwhelming. She was thriving in it. Her Instagram story was entirely her filming the reactions of her friends, James, her parents, everyone really. Her DM’s were quickly filled with people showing their support. Videos where they were singing along, where they were on iTunes, buying the album. It was almost surreal, she didn’t know how to process her feelings for the day.

James was supportive, as ever, hyping her up on Twitter and posting about how good the album was. Announcing their relationship, at least partly, had made them so much stronger. Lily was less withdrawn, less over-thinking. They were good.

\---

_MusicPeople Exclusive - Sirius Black and James Potter throw raging party._

**By Mary-Anne Wilkes 25/09/19**

According to sources close to the members of Mischief Managed, Sirius Black and James Potter are well known for throwing parties that often get out of hand. As of yet, there have been no reports of property damage or injury, but can we really expect anything less from these celebs?

Sirius, 21, who recently came out as gay is the lead guitarist in the band. James Potter, also 21, is bassist. In attendance was Lily Evans, Potter’s 19-year-old fiancée, lesbian duo Marlene McKinnon, 20, and Dorcas Meadowes, 20, the band’s manager, Alice Fortescue, 20, and Fortesue’s boyfriend, Frank Longbottom, 21.

\---

Sirius and James' apartment was full of loud music and high spirits. The lights were dim, and a little light-up disco ball was projecting bright colours across the walls and across the bodies. Lily’s album release, Sirius coming out, Remus and Sirius getting together; everything was happening all at once.

Sirius smiled gently as he poured himself another drink.

“Alright?” He heard a voice from behind him. Turning quickly, he relaxed when his eyes focused on Emmeline.

“Hey, Emmy! How’s it going?”

“It sure is going,” she smiled, blue lips stretching to show a row of pearly white teeth. “Heard about you and Remus, got a scoop for me?”

“For you? Or for your magazine?” Sirius joked back.

“Either, or.”

He rolled his eyes and shook his head fondly, “Not at the moment, dear Emmeline.”

She grinned, leant in and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before scurrying off to chat with some of her other friends.

Sirius wandered into the main room, still smiling. He was having a good time. He spotted Alice and Frank together on the dance floor, James and Lily were making out in the corner of the room ( _of course they were.)_ Peter was chugging a beer while a couple of their friends cheered him on. He couldn’t find Remus.

The night dragged on. Whiskey in hand, Sirius made his way out the front door, pushing past the people spilling out into the hallway, and up the stairs. He kept going up and up until he made it to the roof access door. He figured he’d get a moment of peace up there.

The roof was always his favourite spot. In the dark he spotted a figure, just barely illuminated in a blue light.

“Rem,” he called, still maintaining a soft tone.

Remus turned around, a smile already on his lips, before he turned back to the landscape.

“Hey.”

Sirius closed the gap between them, hugging Remus from behind. He lay his head on Remus' shoulder, closed his eyes and breathed in. He liked when they were like this. Quiet, calm. Still. Their lives lent themselves to chaos. They were always moving, on tour or making music. It was exhausting. Overwhelming. So moments where they could just hold one another were little gifts he took full advantage of.

Remus span in his arms, leaning back against the roof barrier. He brought his hands up to rest on Sirius' face, cupping his cheeks. He looked into Sirius’ eyes for a moment, before his own eyes slipped shut.

“You okay, baby?” Sirius whispered, words almost getting lost to the wind.

Remus nodded, “Just needed a moment. Fresh air. You.”

Sirius smiled, his own eyes slipping closed. He leaned in and rest his forehead against Remus’. “I love you.”

Remus smiled, a soft, secretive sort of smile. “I love you too.”

Their mouths met without much difficulty, practise, sure, even in the fragile newness of their relationship. It was closed-mouthed and chaste. It was everything. Sirius’ arms tightened from their position around Remus’ waist, inadvertently pulling him closer. Their hips slot together, mouth pressed against mouth as if it were made to be there. The wind blew a gentle breeze.

-

Lily and James were making out unabashedly in the corner of James’ living room. Sure, they could have taken it to his bedroom, but where was the fun in that? They were looking at homes to buy together, once they get married. They’d have all the privacy in the world, then, so they might as well live it up now.

Distantly, the song swapped to one of James’. He pulled away from Lily for a moment.

“Nice, I wrote this one.”

Lily rolled her eyes, “I’m proud of you.”

She leant in again, and he wasn’t going to say no to that.

\---

It was a clear day. The weather was warm and the trees were fluttering gently in a sweet breeze. Inside, Lily was crying, Sirius was screeching and Marlene was filming everything.

Weddings are apparently quite stressful.

And then—like an angel straight from heaven, with white light illuminating him from behind—Remus was standing in the doorway. Then he opened his mouth and the angel turned into a demon with no patience to deal with your bullshit. 

“Lily, Lily! You need to calm the fuck down. Sirius, stop shouting you’re helping with nothing, go back to James. And for god's sake, Marlene, put the phone away.” He took a breath and his voice melted from steel to sweet sugar, “I’m here to help with whatever you need, Lils.”

Dorcas smiled at Remus gratefully and moved to clip Lily’s hair back. She had her makeup products organised on the table.

“Thanks, Rem,” Lily said, voice watery.

Sirius pressed a kiss to Remus’ cheek and skipped out of the room, all but running to the groom’s dressing room. Remus smiled to himself lightly.

Things had been good recently. They’d had a rocky month, their little group. Lily and James getting engaged was one of the best things that could have happened. They were allowed happiness. Through the month being rough, the light shining through had been that much brighter.

Sirius and Remus were happy. Lily and James were happy. Their music was thriving, Regulus and Sirius had started to fix their issues. 

Lily, ever the sentimentalist—not that James wasn’t—had chosen for her bouquet to be the same as the one James had proposed with. Hestia had also provided the flowers placed around the reception venue. 

The ceremony was gorgeous. It was a whirlwind of tears and laughter, James and Sirius had been in tears the entire time.

“Evans. Well, I guess you’re not going to be that for much longer, but all the same it somehow seems fitting. Lily Evans. I met you over a decade ago and it’s felt like a tornado of excitement and effortless conversation. Sure, we didn’t start off on the right foot, but we managed, and we made it. Somehow, a group of unlikely people made it out of a Scottish boarding school and took the world by storm with their beautiful music and you, my dear, are the best example of that group. You have been extraordinary, you are inimitable, and you are everything I’ve ever been wanting. I don’t really know what to say other than I love you and I really can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.” James smiled at his bride, wavering with freely falling tears.

Euphemia in the front row was openly sobbing along, Fleamont rubbing soothing circles on her back as he watched with pride as his first son marry the perfect woman. His other son, in every way except biologically, standing at James’s side as best man.

Lily looked like she wanted to skip everything and kiss James right then and there.

“Alright, toe-rag, how am I supposed to follow that?” The guests laughed, she paused and waited until the calmed before continuing.

“When we were eleven, and you were even more obnoxious than you are now, and I was even more short-tempered than I am now. Safe to say, we didn’t exactly see eye to eye. I think that I’m grateful for that. It gave me time to get used to your ways, and it gave me time to fall in love with you, no matter how slowly. I don’t believe in love at first sight and I don’t believe in perfection. I grew up into love. For years you have been my first supporter, you and your merry band of idiots,” She glanced at Sirius in his best man position, and Remus and Peter as two of the three groomsmen.

She took a deep breath and began again, “You and your band of idiots, in multiple senses of the phrase, have helped me become a better person. You’ve helped me through hardships and you’ve laughed with me through the good times. I could never choose anyone but you. Falling in love with you was the easiest leap I ever took, and I don’t regret it for even a moment.”

“Is there any more after this or can we just say ‘I do’ and be wed instantly, because I really want to kiss you right now,” James said in one breath.

Lily giggled lightly and turned to the officiant, he smiled at the two. 

“The rings, if you please?”

Lily grinned down at Dora as she was led by Andromeda to produce the rings.

“Repeat, please, James: ‘With this ring, I thee wed…’”

“With this ring, I thee wed…”

“And with it, I bestow upon thee all the treasures of my mind, heart, and hands.”

“And with it, I bestow upon thee all the treasures of my mind, heart, and hands.”

“Excellent. Now for the bride, Lily, if you please? ‘With this ring, I thee wed…’”

“With this ring, I thee wed…”

“And with it, I bestow upon thee all the treasures of my mind, heart, and hands.”

“And with it, I bestow upon thee all the treasures of my mind, heart, and hands.”

“I now pronounce you husband and wife, for as long as you may live this bond shall be blessed.”

James hadn’t stopped crying or smiling for the past half an hour and now his smile grew impossibly larger. He took a step forward, swept Lily into his arms and kissed her firmly. Lily snaked her arms around his neck, gripping her husband as tightly as possible.

The applause seemed louder than any of the concerts they had played.

\---

**New Upload from funeralFlowers: _so, i got married?_**

_12 hours ago. 1.2 M views, 192k likes._

-fin-


	2. bonus: regulus and sirius try to fix their issues

For Sirius to say that he was excited to meet up with his brother for lunch today, well, he would have to be lying. He had made a point to try and _ stop _ lying, anyway. So, he wasn’t excited. But he was going, and that was a step. Regulus had reached out, in a way, about a week ago. Twitter, as was the start of most things, sparked the beginning of the end. 

-

**_r_** _♛_ **@weareregulus** _386,442 followers_

_ my debut ep postgrad is out everywhere now _

_r_ _♛_ **_@weareregulus_**

hey brother. t here's an endless road to rediscover.

_ 03:21 AM - 222,642 likes - 58,226 retweets _

_ - _

Kind of innocuous, Sirius could admit. The DM wasn’t. Apparently, Reg had moved out of their parents’ house and effectively cut himself off from them right as he was supposed to go to Uni for business management like Orion had before him. Not only that, but he wanted to reconnect, fix their everything.

**weareregulus + siriusly**

**_(03:24) weareregulus:_ ** hey siri. i know it’s been a while but i thought it’s not right to keep going like this. you know how i’m off of our parents’ income, yeah? don’t really talk to them anymore. i didn’t go to uni like they wanted. i didn’t go at all. i’m glad you went, even if you were saddled with loans cause of them. anyway, i have an album out now, i didn’t need them like i thought i did. and i missed you. you’re my big brother, and i missed you every day. can we fix this? love u

**_(07:57) siriusly:_ ** fine. 2pm at the monocle.

He was mildly freaking out. It took the combined effort of Remus (in kisses) and James (in punches to the arm,  _ like, OW)  _ to calm him down enough to get out of the door. It was only when he’d reached the cafe, ordered his drink and stood awkwardly by the counter standing the counter scanning for his brother, that he was able to breathe properly. Logically he knew there wasn’t going to be any physical harm coming to him. He trusted his brother, even though that trust had been flimsy in the past it was still there. He still believed. Hoped. He saw him, sitting anxiously by the window of the cafe wearing a light grey sweatshirt with a dark green t-shirt overtop. Basically, he looked like a bedraggled and sleep deprived e-boy. Sirius walked over, trying to mask his trepidation with annoyance. He reached the table and plopped down into the seat, faking nonchalonce.

“Regulus.”   
  
“Hey,” Regulus replied, quietly. He seemed nervous, which made sense. They hadn’t spoken much since Sirius was disowned three years prior. Reg was sixteen, Sirius was eighteen. They were still teenagers, too young to have their family ripped apart. Sirius knew it was coming, the disownment. What he didn’t expect was for Regulus to stand idle, nodding his head to everything their mother had said. It hurt more than he was willing to admit. He scratched at the tattoo on his wrist, unsure of what to say. Glancing at the deer antlers, he was able to breathe a little easier. 

“Look, Sirius, I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I was complicit with Mother and Father’s unfair and outright cruel words when you left. I was afraid. I didn’t really understand at the time. I didn’t understand why you wouldn’t just go to uni for economics, but then it was my turn. I’m glad that you actually went to uni, it just wasn’t what I wanted. They weren’t happy with that.”

“Where are you living now? Are you safe?” Was all that Sirius could say.

“Oh, yeah. You remember that cleaner that Mother hired? His name’s John Kutcher and we get on alright. I call him Kreacher, because he’s a right gremlin when he’s hungover and his last name. They sound similar. Anyway, he and I have a shared flat.”

“Good.”

“Can you give me something, Sirius. I’m trying here,” Regulus all but exploded. Sirius looked away, breathing deeply and counting to ten.

“It’s been three years of nothing, Reg, cut me some slack. I’m processing. I’m the older brother here, I’m supposed to be the mature one.”

“You’ve never been the mature one.”

He smiled at that, a weak and hopeful upturn of the mouth. Sirius returned it. 

\---

_r_ _♛_ **_@weareregulus_**

you may be the world, but we are stardust in the cosmos

_ 02:43 AM - 238,621 likes - 87,192 retweets _

_sirius “punksnotdead” black_ **_@siriusly_**

stream parents by weareregulus on spotify.

_ 02:53 AM - 1,217,212 likes - 995,922 retweets _

**_r_** _♛_ **@weareregulus** _406,112 followers_

_ my debut ep postgrad is out everywhere _

\---

“The inspiration for this song was my brother —partly, at least, towards the end it morphed into general social commentary—and it’s a little bit about me. When I wrote it, I was 17 years old, my brother had been disowned the year before and I stood by without arguing or trying to stop it. It’s the biggest regret of my life.”

He paused, the person behind the camera said they would cut to the Genius Verified title screen now. Then, they nodded for him to continue.

“The first bit is about me, **‘my favourite flavoured sweets are raspberry amphetamines’** I was diagnosed with ADHD at a young age and since then my parents tried to stuff me full of drugs to keep me as ‘in line’ as they could. **‘I brush my teeth with bleach / ‘cause I ain’t got time for cavities’** We had to be perfect. You know, I was the son of an incredibly rich and powerful old family with some troubling viewpoints. They made us stand up straight and stay silent. If we acted out we were punished. My brother got the short end of the stick, I think he did it on purpose to protect me. He was disowned because he was gay, three days beforehand our father had said the exact words to him; **‘if you kiss a boy, i’m going to shoot you dead.’** The day after he came home with a boy and, well- it was the most scared I had ever been. For him.”

Regulus looked into the camera for a second before glancing up to look behind the scenes, he was told to continue by the nice looking lady’s hand gesture. 

“As I said, it turned a bit into social commentary, the whole culture of the church and all that. The song is a bit about me, a bit about my brother and a bit about the fuck up state of the world.  **‘** **Drop a toaster in my bath / watch my mum and dad laugh / See a thousand volts go through the son they wish they never had.’** My parents are not the type of people who should have had children. They are not kind people, and they used their children all through childhood as mannequins of success. Like _ ‘look at us, we have two perfect children who never speak or move a toe out of line.’  _ As much as I regret my brother leaving, I’m so grateful he got out.”

He took a deep breath.

“My brother and I lost contact for three years. It was tough, for us. The chorus was my way of apologising, I guess.  **‘‘Cause my high hopes are getting low / Because these people are so old / The way they think about it all / If I try I would never know / My high hopes are getting low / But I know I’ll never be alone / It’s alright, we’ll survive / Cause parents ain’t always right.’** In a way I think I was trying to say that I get it now, when I didn’t when I was 16. I get that our parents were wrong and that  _ I was wrong  _ to blindly follow them. I regret holding my writing—my ideals, that my parents didn’t subscribe to—close to my chest, waiting until I was legally an adult to tell them I disagreed. To try to reach Sirius.

“I have another song about him, called Marauder, which dives way deeper into how, in those three years, I came to understand what he felt that day. I worked hard to learn acceptance of the fact that people I’ve spent my entire life following aren’t always the right people. Sirius was always more courageous than I was. We had to learn how to be brothers again. I think we’re in a better place now. He found his new family, and they’ve been kind enough to accept me into their house for a few months while I found my feet after renouncing the house of Black like Sirius did all those years ago. The Potter family is a good breed, they’re good people, I’m glad he found them. Sirius, he’s in his band, and they’re going good. He’s not afraid of liking boys anymore. Life is going far better for the Black brothers, now.”

\---

Introducing Remus and Regulus was an interesting experience to say the least. Realistically, Sirius had built it up so much more in his mind than what actually happened. Suffice to say, nobody died like he was expecting. Regulus was quiet, as he was three years ago. Never any good with new people. To be fair, Remus wasn’t either so all in all the gathering went rather well.

It was still hard. Three years of no contact meant a lot of relearning had to be done, but some things hadn’t changed. The familiarity was something Sirius was incredibly grateful for. Regulus still had two sugars in his tea, still chewed the same gum, still slicked his hair back (though now he looked more like a greaser and less like a snobby rich kid.)

Remus slipped his hand into his, squeezing softly, smiling in encouragement. Sirius took a deep breath and smiled back before turning to Regulus. They met up at the cafe every month from then. Sirius and Regulus always, James, Remus and Peter, or whoever Regulus wanted that month sometimes. It was nice to have the routine, to be back in each other’s life. It was nice.


	3. bonus: it's a dumb fucking group chat

siriusly has started a new group .

siriusly has retitled the group:  whats poppin boys

no1dadfoot has added:  swearwolf, buckwild, petty, doeno, leneonme, dork ****

swearwolf:  must you

no1dadfoot:  i must

buckwild:  i for one am all for it

swearwolf:  of course you are

no1dadfoot:  moony! i’m hurt!

swearwolf:  of course you are

swearwolf:  oh shit i’m late

no1dadfoot:  yeah, i know, i’ve been at the cafe for like 10 minutes

buckwild:  good one moons ****

\--- ****

doeno:  sorry what is this

leneonme:  not a fuckin clue

buckwild:  sirius got bored i think?

\---

dork:  and that’s why i’ll never trust alice with another plant

no1dadfoot:  wait shit we gotta add her

buckwild:  for shame!!!

no1dadfoot has added:  notmycue, frankenstein ****

notmycue:  wow rude of yall

no1dadfoot:  sorrrrryyyyyyyyyyyy <3333

buckwild:  for shame!!!!!!!!!!

notmycue:  i suppose you’re forgiven

petty:  oh whaddup guys!!

frankenstein:  oh shit! a rat!

petty:  will there ever be a day that i don’t get that joke?

no1dadfoot:  nope!

swearwolf:  i mentioned i thought werewolves were cooler than any other mythical being once, peter, and look at me now.

petty:  shit.


	4. deleted scene: marlene and dorcas feels

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this fic was originally four chapters - 1. wolfstar. 2. jily. 3. marlene/dorcas. 4. all of them and tying it up. but i hated that, so i made it one long oneshot and cut the marlene/dorcas scene. because i couldnt write them. idk why. here is that scene x

Coming out wasn’t planned. Okay, that’s not true. They always planned to do it, they just didn’t expect it to happen at that  _ exact moment.  _ Marlene was never one to shy away from conflict, she was always unapologetically herself. She had had to deal with prejudice for a long time; teachers who told her to get rid of or hide her natural hair, later when they told her to remove her rainbow wristbands and lesbian pride pin. She transferred to H. Dore College and got the chance to be proud of her body, and her identity, but that defensive nature never left her. She didn’t want it to (Dorcas didn’t want her to either, it was who she was.)

They had forgotten, though, that becoming famous or thereabouts had made it so that they had to be cautious. No more kissing on street corners, no more obvious dates. Nothing in public. No more being themselves. It was exhausting, but they had worked too hard to stop now. 

Until it wasn’t their choice anymore.

They were careful. They stayed in their own home, and put on the gal-pal mask when out in public, or doing shoots, or meeting fans.

“Marls!” Marlene heard Dorcas calling her as she stepped through the door. Marlene didn’t think much of it, not moving her eyes from the lyrics she was working on.

“Marlene?” She looked up then, Dorcas was in the doorway and she looked distressed, her tone bordering on frantic.

“Baby? What’s wrong.”

Dorcas walked to her, slamming a magazine onto the table Marlene was seated at.

Marlene looked at the magazine for five long, agonising seconds. Her eyes widened, breath stopped and her heart beat out of control. The front cover was a photograph taken from outside of their apartment building, focused on a couple kissing, only half obscured by cream coloured curtains. It was clear that it was her and Dorcas. Dorcas had her arms around Marlene's waist, tugging her closer. Marlene had her hands in Dorcas’s soft, blonde hair. They looked comfortable on the cover, not knowing how their privacy was being violated.

“What’re we going to do?” Dorcas whispered, voice cracking.

Marlene pulled her into a hug, smoothing her hair and making soothing noises in her ear. “It’s okay sweet thing, we’ll figure it out.”

They did not figure it out. Well, they did, it just took a few hours, many, many tears and half a dozen phone calls to various people. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rich text is kind of fucking up for me rn idk why so sorry abt the formatting for the past few chapters

**Author's Note:**

> come hang on tumblr: @gaylupin (https://gaylupin.tumblr.com) xx comments and kudos are loved xxxx
> 
> songs used:  
> Ugh! - the 1975 (https://genius.com/The-1975-ugh-lyrics)  
> Soundcheck - Catfish and the Bottlemen (https://genius.com/Catfish-and-the-bottlemen-soundcheck-lyrics)  
> Parents - Yungblud (https://genius.com/Yungblud-parents-lyrics)  
> lily's ring: https://pointnopointstudio.com/collections/clear-diamonds/products/clear-round-diamond-engagement-ring
> 
> i don't have any visual references for the flowers james gets lily bc i made it up myself using what knowledge of flowers i have, and also these websites:  
> http://thelanguageofflowers.com/  
> https://www.flowermeaning.com/gardenia-flower-meaning/  
> https://www.flowermeaning.com/hydrangea-flower-meaning/  
> https://www.flowermeaning.com/lavender-flower-meaning/  
> https://www.flowermeaning.com/calla-lily-meaning/  
> http://www.gardens.si.edu/come-learn/docs/Template_HistBloom_Language%20of%20Flowers.pdf


End file.
